Congress approves rail package, clears way for Amtrak

Despite its overarching concern with the financial rescue bill, the U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives last week in approving a comprehensive rail package that would, among other things, authorize $13 billion over five years to revitalize Amtrak’s passenger rail services around the country – including clearing the way for a study to determine if southern Idaho should get its Pioneer passenger route back.
“When President Bush signs the legislation, the next step will be to arrange Amtrak meetings here in Idaho and prepare for the visit that Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant has agreed to related to the passage of this legislation,” said Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, who led the drive for the Pioneer study and secured Kummant’s promise of a visit.
Supporters of bringing the Pioneer Line back included Crapo’s fellow Republican, Rep. Mike Simpson and three bipartisan colleagues in Oregon, while Idaho’s other congressmen, Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. Bill Sali, both Republicans, have opposed the measure, saying the government shouldn’t be subsidizing money-losing programs.
From 1977 until 1997 the Pioneer ran through Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, but was discontinued after it lost $20 million in 1996. Crapo and others contend that with Amtrak ridership up by as much as 13 percent around the country, the time is right to pursue an extension of the nationwide rail system to the state’s major population centers. The only Idaho city with Amtrak service is Sandpoint, located less than 80 miles south of the Canadian border.
“When I entered the Senate in 1999, I worked with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to initiate actions to return Amtrak service to southern Idaho,” Crapo said.  “I thought we had made a compelling case about the Pioneer Line but even I was surprised by how many Idahoans feel so passionately about restoring passenger rail to Idaho. 
Other aspects of the rail package include mandating train control technology on passenger and some hazardous rail routes, limiting the amount of hours workers must spend in “limbo time” (a term used to describe the amount of time crews must stay on the train because of a lack of transportation to the terminal), cleanup of rail sites on the state level and rules governing the use of cell phones on the job.